Cine Vero
The Cine Vero is a Japanese camera using 35mm film to take 24×35mm pictures. Origin No original document about the Cine Vero has been found or reported so far, and the maker of this camera is unconfirmed. The most plausible candidate is Kinshō Kōki Seisakusho, alias "K.S. Fabrik", which made the Rapid-Presto shutter mounted on the Cine Vero and also made a similarly named Vero Four camera. Kinshō maker of the Rapid-Presto and Vero Four: , item 153 and shutter item 18-R-4. The date is uncertain too: the lens and shutter are typical of prewar or wartime cameras, but they might have been rescued from a stock of parts. A wartime origin is most probable, but an early postwar date cannot be discarded. For an unknown reason, and say that the camera was made in 1947 by "Kyoto Precision Manufacturing", perhaps corresponding to Kyōto Seiki. , item 3221, , p.592. Description The Cine Vero has a metal body with rounded ends and chrome top and bottom plates. The top plate is covered by a long housing, containing the viewfinder in the middle. The advance knob is to the right end, as seen by the photographer, and is surrounded by an exposure counter. The rewind knob protrudes from the top housing at the left end. There are two buttons next to the advance knob: the front one is the body release and the rear one probably disengages the sprocket wheel to rewind the film. There is a telescopic tube supporting the lens and shutter assembly and mounted on a focusing helical with a focusing tab. A rectangular plate is screwed to the front of the body, on both sides of the lens. The body release is linked to the shutter release lever by an external covered by a metal fairing. There are strap lugs at both ends of the body on some examples, but not all. The back does not open and the film is loaded through the removable bottom plate; this plate is locked by a knob with S'' and ''O indications on the advance side, and has a tripod thread on the rewind side. The name CINE VERO KSK is engraved above the viewfinder, arranged so as to form the silhouette of a bellows camera; the exposure format 24X35 is engraved further to the rear. The serial number is engraved at the rear of the top housing, to the left of the viewfinder eyepiece. There is a rectangular metal plate in the middle of the back, showing through a cut-off in the leather covering, and engraved with the same CINE VERO KSK logo as on the top plate. The lens is a Lausar 5.0cm f/4.5 by Tomioka and the shutter is a Rapid-Presto (T, B, 1–500) by Kinshō Kōki Seisakusho. The shutter plate is inscribed PRE STO at the top and K.S. FABRIK at the bottom, and the name RAPID–PRESTO is engraved at the bottom of the rim. The whole shutter unit is slanted so that the release lever faces the connecting rod for the body release. The shutter plate has two small holes under the PRE STO name, probably to attach a focusing index for a front-cell focusing lens. These details indicate that the shutter was designed for folding cameras and used as is on the Cine Vero. The initials K.S.K. are engraved on the aperture scale; they are the same as in the engravings on the main body, and probably correspond to Kinshō Kōki. Surviving examples Four surviving examples are known so far. The one pictured in this page has body no.287 (engraved NO287) and lens no.6650. Two of the other three are pictured in and in . The only visible difference is the absence of strap lugs on no.287. The forth is number 157 and is in a private collection. Notes Bibliography * no.54 (December 1981). * (For the Rapid-Presto shutter.) * P.592. * Item 3221. Category: Japanese 35mm viewfinder Category: C Vero, Cine